The invention relates to a reamer intended for surgery, made up of a hollow body of revolution provided with four radial arms which are perpendicular to each other so as to form a cross for fixing the reamer on a reamer holder.
A reamer of this kind is described and illustrated in patents EP 0,704,191 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,658,290. The presence of four arms allows for centered and stable fixation of reamers of different diameters on the reamer holder described in these same patents. The arms have hitherto been fixed to each other by conventional welding, that is to say adding material. However, a blackening of the weld has been observed upon sterilization of the reamer. Such blackening is unacceptable for a surgical instrument. In addition, the weld has a certain porosity which poses a problem when cleaning the instrument.
These disadvantages could be eliminated by using a laser weld, that is to say without adding material. However, such a weld requires precise and expensive preliminary machining of the parts to be assembled. Thus, a solution of this kind must be set aside for reasons of economy.
It is an object of the present invention to permit assembly of the cross without welding and by using means which are economical and easy to implement.
The reamer according to the invention is distinguished by the fact that the cross formed by the radial arms is made up of a first diametral bar, a pin passing through the first bar at its center and protruding each side of this first bar, and two radial bars which have an axial hole via which each of these bars is engaged on the pin.
The pin is an inexpensive element. The axial holes are easy to form and said engagement is an easy and straightforward operation. The fixation obtained is very stable.